Myanmar suspends dam project after rare outcry

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's new army-backed government has suspended a controversial US$3.6 billion (S$4.68 billion) hydroelectric power project following rare public opposition, a government official said on Friday.

Opposition to the dam has been building as pro-democracy and environmental activists test the limits of their freedom under the new nominally civilian regime, which is dominated by former military officers.

President Thein Sein told lawmakers in the capital Naypyidaw that work on the Chinese-backed Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River in northern Kachin state would be halted during the term of the current government.

'The president decided to stop the dam project because the government is elected by the people and the government has to respect the will of the people,' said the official, who did not want to be named.